When you create a project schedule, it's often helpful to display the number of days remaining in the project, excluding weekends. Use the NETWORKDAYS function in Excel to calculate the number of working days between two dates. To exclude weekends and holidays, you'll have to manually enter the date of each holiday to exclude.

Step 1

Click the first cell in the first column and type "Date." Click the first cell in the second column and type "Description." Click the first cell in the third column and type "Working Days."

Step 2

Type the future date in the first column, and type "End Date" in the second column to label it.

Step 3

Type the date of a holiday to exclude in the first column. Type "Holiday" in the second column to label it. Repeat this for all holidays.

Step 4

Highlight each of the dates you entered in the first column, right-click and choose "Format Cells..." Choose "Date" in the Category box, select a date format and click "OK" to ensure that Excel recognizes the data you entered as dates.

Step 5

Click the cell under the header in the third column. Enter the formula to calculate the number of working days between today and the future date, excluding weekends and the holidays you entered. For example, if the end date is in cell A2 and the holidays are in cells A3 to A10, type:

=NETWORKDAYS(TODAY(), A2, A3:A10)

Tip

Use the NETWORKDAYS.INTL function when you want to define a weekend as something other than Saturday and Sunday. For example, you can calculate working days for a six-day workweek by defining a weekend as Sunday only.

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About the Author

Steve McDonnell's experience running businesses and launching companies complements his technical expertise in information, technology and human resources. He earned a degree in computer science from Dartmouth College, served on the WorldatWork editorial board, blogged for the Spotfire Business Intelligence blog and has published books and book chapters for International Human Resource Information Management and Westlaw.